"I shall grant you a world of peace, my beloved daughters..."
— Brauner
For the Lords of Shadow character, see Lieutenant Brauner.

Brauner (ブローネル Burōneru?) is the main antagonist in Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin. In his past life, he was an artist prior to his vampirism. He is the one who created the many portraits which the player must travel through to get to different areas.


An elder vampire with a resemblance to Count Orlok, Brauner recreated Dracula's Castle using the souls of the dead from World War II in order to destroy humanity. Unlike most other vampires in the series, he has no loyalty to Dracula due to his repeated failures in the past. Brauner disdains humanity because his two real daughters were killed 30 years ago, during World War I, and he has deluded the vampiric Stella and Loretta (and possibly himself as well) into believing that they are his daughters. After the player defeats him in battle, Death comes in and finishes him off, saying his presence is what kept Dracula sealed.


Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin

Brauner is the second-to-last boss encountered in the game, save for optional bosses.

Brauner usually starts the battle by painting two giant blood trails on the screen that will damage the player upon contact, but which can be destroyed by an attack or a spell. He then attacks the player by throwing paint-like blood at Jonathan and Charlotte, before summoning monsters from a painting (all monsters can be avoided or attacked). Depending on the color of the painting, the monsters and their effects will be different:

  • Green: Summons two giant spinning monsters. Inflicts Poison upon contact.
  • Gray: Summons two giant ghosts, one on the ground and another on the ceiling, that will travel to the edge of the screen. Inflicts a Curse upon contact.
  • Blue: Several heads start flying in the heroes' direction. Inflicts Petrification upon contact.

Brauner can also teleport inside his portrait and fly around, damaging the player if he or she touches it.

No. Name JPN HP
148 Brauner ブローネル Burōneru 6,000
Tolerance Weakness
Dark Holy
Location Common Drop Rare Drop EXP SP
Lost Gallery (Master's Keep secret room) - - 0 0
Description "An artist who became a vampire and renounced humanity."

Castlevania: Harmony of Despair

Brauner appears in the game as the boss of the fourth chapter. His attacks are same as those in Portrait of Ruin.

No. Name JPN HP MP
49 Brauner ブローネル Burōneru - -
Tolerance Weakness
Dark Slashing, Piercing, Holy
Chapter Drop Bind Soul
Chapter 4: Esquisse of Violence Gold Ring (Normal only), Olrox's Suit (Alucard and Soma only), Daybreak (Normal - Alucard only), Lapiste (Normal - Shanoa only), Pneuma (Normal - Shanoa only), Alucard Sword (Hard - Alucard only), Gungner (Hard - Soma only) Blood Art Technique (Guardian Soul - 0.30%)

Item Data

Item Data: Brauner
Image Name - Game
Type / Users Attributes / Consume Statistics / Sell Found Notes
Gold Ring PoR Icon Gold Ring (jpn) - Harmony of Despair [edit]
Ring that increases your luck with money. Accessory
Sell: (cannot be sold)  Rarity: ***
Olrox&#039;s Suit DoS Icon Olrox's Suit - Harmony of Despair [edit]
Suit favored by Count Olrox. Chest (Clothes)
Soma, Alucard 
Attrib: Dark +6
DEF +11, CON +4, MND +4
Sell: Cannot be sold 
Rarity: ***
Find: Chapter 4
Drop: Brauner
Sword of Dawn Icon Daybreak - Harmony of Despair [edit]
Enchanted sword with the power to summon an undead army. Greatsword
#hands: 2
ATK +44
Sell: $4,500 
Rarity: ***
Find: Chapter 4 (Normal)
Special: ↓↘→ + [Attack] To Summon Undead. Occasionally summons Undead Army.
Glyphspell HD Icon Lapiste - Harmony of Despair [edit]
Pulverize enemies with giant fists of stone. Weapon Glyph
ATK +6
Sell: (cannot be sold) 
Rarity: **
Drop: Chapter 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 boss (Normal). Chapter 3, 5 boss (Hard).
Glyphspell HD Icon Pneuma - Harmony of Despair [edit]
Create squalls to sweep enemies away. Weapon Glyph
ATK +3
Sell: (cannot be sold) 
Rarity: **
Alucard Sword Icon Alucard Sword - Harmony of Despair [edit]
Alucard's favorite sword. Sword
#hands: 1
ATK +40
Sell: (cannot be sold) 
Rarity: *****
Find: Chapter 4 (Hard)
Drop: Brauner
Gungner DoS Icon Gungner - Harmony of Despair [edit]
Divine thunderbolt that pierces everything it touches. Lance
#hands: 1
ATK +22
Sell: (cannot be sold) 
Rarity: *****
Drop: Brauner (Hard)
Effect: Special - Shoots a beam of lightning
Guardian Soul HD Icon Brauner - Harmony of Despair [edit]
Draw swaths in the air with cursed paint. Guardian Soul
Consume: 2 MP  ATK +5
Rarity: ***
Steal: Brauner (0.3%)


Victor Brauner - 01

Victor Brauner (c. 1960)

Por pic 20

Official Brauner wallpaper.

  • Brauner is based on the real life painter Victor Brauner. He was a surrealist artist that often painted portraits with signs and symbols from a diverse range of sources including religion and mysticism into his work. Eyes had been a reoccurring theme in much of his early works. In doing so, he gained a reputation amongst the Surrealists as seer, also believing himself to be one. After an incident where he lost the sight of his left eye, his work became more introspective and symbols such as a prophetic cyclops eye are common. One of his attacks in Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin involves summoning Cyclops' heads, and the big painting on the canvas in his studio has many eyes along other macabre imagery.
  • Even though Brauner is a vampire who seeks humanity's destruction and uses the souls of those who died in World War II to revive Dracula's Castle, he does not seek to revive (nor does he intend to serve) Dracula, who he keeps under a seal, instead taking the castle's power and army for himself. The reason Brauner does not revive Dracula is because of his constant failures to destroy humanity. Brauner is one of a handful of monsters/vampires who do not serve Dracula (such as the Frozen Half and the Time Reaper) and is opposed to Dracula's status as Dark Lord (similar to Galamoth).
    • Ironically, Dracula is partially responsible for the deaths of Brauner's two daughters (which fueled Brauner's hatred for humanity), as Dracula's niece Elizabeth Bartley had the Crown Prince of Austria assassinated, leading Europe into the chaos of World War I (which took the lives of Brauner's two daughters) in order to revive her uncle, only for both to be defeated by John Morris and Eric Lecarde (the same man Brauner would later murder). Brauner, however, apparently held humanity responsible for the War (it is unknown if he was aware of Bartley's role in starting the war or not) that led to the deaths of his beloved daughters.
      • In addition, both Brauner and Dracula became vampires for the exact same reason: Both did so due to sadness over the loss of loved ones (as Mathias Cronqvist became Dracula due to the death of Elisabetha Cronqvist, while Brauner became a vampire thanks to his daughter's death), and both even developed genocidal views against humanity for similar reasons (although in Brauner's case, it was the same reason he became a vampire, while with Dracula, it was the death of Lisa at the hands of humans that resulted in his genocidal actions against humanity).
    • Despite being enemies, both Brauner and Eric Lecarde have lost loved ones due to the actions of Elizabeth Bartley. She turned Eric's lover Gwendolyn into a vampire who Eric was forced to destroy, and started the war which took the lives of Brauner's daughters (whose souls Brauner believed had been reincarnated into Eric's two daughters, Stella and Loretta).
  • Brauner's overall design seems to be based on both Count Olrox from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, and the main antagonist of the 1922 film Nosferatu, Count Orlok. While in fact Olrox was primarily inspired by the film's character, Brauner only wears a purple-colored Victorian apparel similar to Olrox's; the rest of his physical features (face, pointy ears and thin hands with long nails) along with the design of his suit (which now portrays a larger collar) are more reminiscent to those of Count Orlok.
    • Coincidentally, both Brauner and Orlox were Vampires who restored Dracula's Castle without actually serving Dracula, usurped his authority, and even ended up killed by Death with the unwitting aid by a Vampire Hunter.
  • Brauner's method of attack when he enters a painting and swoops down on the player is reminiscent of the Captain, a boss from Castlevania: Rondo of Blood.

See also
